Teenagers And Drugs

The question of teenagers and drugs deserves our adamant attention

Drug use among teens has reached epidemic proportions. No matter how vigilant you are, your teens are going to be exposed to drugs at school, the very place you think should be a safe environment. Mrs. Reagan's 'Just say no to drugs' campaign fell flat on its face. The fact is that teens view adults as old fuddy-duddies that have never seen the outside of a paper bag. Parents, try as they may, face an uphill battle in protecting their kids from the ravaging effects of drugs.

The challenge is made more difficult by the fact that most of us have prescription drugs in our medicine cabinets. When confronting the issue of teenagers and drugs, you have to present a rational argument that distinguishes between necessary medications and street drugs. This isn't easy.

Some common prescription medicines are being sold at school as a way to get high. Kids don't know that these prescriptions are issued in duplicate or triplicate, as a method to control the use of certain narcotics. Not having experienced a legitimate need for such drugs themselves, they may well conclude that their parents are enjoying some high that they are somehow being forbidden.

Another problem in educating kids on the issue of teen drug use is that society does not make any distinction between drugs. Some medicinal drugs have a place, but when it comes to teenagers and drugs, we say that every drug is bad.

This is patently false. Some kids require medications for a legitimate condition. Used improperly, that medication can produce a high in a kid who doesn't need it. Sometimes, that drug can have lethal consequences when taken as a 'recreational' drug.

Kids are not capable of making those distinctions. For example, a patient with severe pain due to arthritis or cancer, may be prescribed codeine or another opiate to manage the pain. Kids don't understand that this patient doesn't get high.

That med only dulls the pain. However, in the world of teenagers and drugs, this potentially dangerous drug becomes an opportunity to enjoy a different reality. They don't know the difference.

One major lie that encourages teen drug use is the fable of marijuana. This street drug is posited as the first step to drug addiction, thrown in the same bag as heroin and crack cocaine. The minute that middle school child tries marijuana, the child sees that although it makes them feel good, they can hide this new habit from their parents and it doesn't make them crazy. They conclude that the rest of the warnings issued on teenagers and drugs are lies. That's why they fall into the trap of the really dangerous drugs.

As a society, we need to educate our kids. Explain the effects of drugs. Meth, crack, heroin and drugs like 'ecstasy' can ruin their lives or kill them. Be honest. We can protect our kids.